The Lazy Sonሰነፉ ልጅ
Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን · 1 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Kebede Galsha
There was once a man who had children. He told one of his sons to build a house for them to live in. On the way, the son met a rat.
The rat said, “Let’s play together, tell stories, chat.”
“But my father ordered me to build a house.”
“Never mind. You can go when we’ve told jokes.”
The rat told him good stories, which he enjoyed. The rat was full of humour, telling stories after stories, and he kept on listening. The day passed without any work and then he went home.
“Did you start work on our house?” asked the father.
“No, I met a rat on the way who was telling me stories and then it got dark and I came home. I’ll start tomorrow.”
The next day he met the rat again and, as usual, the day passed in conversation and jokes.
When he came home and told the father that again he had not started, the father was angry and told him to do it on the third day. Again, he didn’t start. On the fourth day the same thing happened. The father called his other children.
He said, “Your brother is a bad example for you. He’s lazy. Don’t be lazy like him.”
The lazy son ran away and lived with the rat because he was afraid of his father.
“Your brother was always talking and playing. Now he has run away with the rat. Don’t go to them since they will teach you to be lazy.”
ሰነፉ ልጅ
በከበደ ጋልሻ የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት ልጆች የነበሩት ሰው ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ ይህ ሰው ከልጆቹ አንዱ የሚኖርበትን ቤት እንዲሰራለት ይነግረዋል፡፡ ልጁም በመንገዱ ላይ አንዲት አይጥ ያገኝና አይጧም “ና እባክህ እያወራንና ተረት እየተናገርን እንጨዋወት፡፡” አለችው፡፡
ልጁ ግን “አባቴ ቤት እንድስራ አዞኛል፡፡” ቢላትም አይጧ ችግር የለውም ከተቀላለድን በኋላ ትሄዳለህ፡፡” አለችው፡፡ አይጧም ጥሩ ጥሩ ተረቶችን እየነገረችው አዝናናችው፡፡ አይጧ ጨዋታ አዋቂና ተረቶች የማያልቁባት ስለነበረች ልጁ በተመስጦ ሲያዳምጣት ውሎ ምንም ሳይሰራ ቀኑ መሽቶ ወደቤቱ ተመለሰ፡፡
አባትየውም “ቤቱን መስራት ጀመርክ?” ብሎ ሲጠይቀው “አይ! አንዲት አይጥ በመንገዴ ላይ አግኝቼ እሷ ተረት ስታወራኝ ስለመሸ ተመልሼ መጣሁ፡፡ ስራውን ነገ እጀምራለሁ፡፡” አለው፡፡
በሚቀጥለውም አይጧን እንደገና አግኝቷት እንደተለመደው ቀኑ በዋዛ ፈዛዛ አለፈ፡፡
ልጁም ወደቤቱ በተመለሰ ጊዜ ዛሬም ስራውን እንዳልጀመረ ለአባቱ ሲነግረው አባቱ በጣም ተናዶ በሶስተኛው ቀን እንዲሰራ ነገረው፡፡
በሶስተኛውም ቀን አልጀመረም፡፡ በአራተኛውም ቀን ይኸው ተደገመ፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ አባትየው ሌሎቹን ልጆቹን ጠርቶ “ወንድማችሁ ለእናንተ መጥፎ ምሳሌ ነው፡፡ እርሱ ሰነፍ ነውና እናንተም እንደሱ ሰነፍ እንዳትሆኑ፡፡” አላቸው፡፡
ሰነፉም ልጅ አባቱን ስለፈራው ከቤት ጠፍቶ ከአይጧ ጋር ይኖር ጀመር፡፡
አባትየውመም ሌሎቹን ልጆቹን “ወንድማችሁ ሁልጊዜ ሲያወራና ሲጫወት ጊዜውን በከንቱ ያሳልፋል፡፡ አሁን ደግሞ ጠፍቶ ከአይጧ ጋር እየኖረ ስለሆነ ስንፍናን እንዳያስተምሯችሁ ወደ እርሱ አትሂዱ፡፡” ብሎ መከራቸው፡፡
In the original voice — hear tales from Omo Zoneኦሞ ዞን, told in an Omo Valley language. Listen ›
Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What did the father ask his son to do?
Who did the son meet on the way?
What did the rat want to do with the son?
Why did no work get done on the house?
Why did the lazy son run away to live with the rat?
What did the father tell his other children about their brother?
For discussionለውይይት
- Why do you think the son kept listening to the rat instead of building the house? What would you have done?
- Do you think the father was right to be angry with his son? Explain why or why not.
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us?
- The father warned the other children not to be lazy. Do you think they will listen to him? Why?